[access-uk] Re: Now this is real inuvation! enjoy.
- From: "Darren Brewer" <darren.m.brewer@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 18 Jul 2012 13:43:15 +0100
Hi Ibrahim
lol. Oh dear I wonder how many more puns can we get out of this subject.
Seriously though I wish him all the best with his project. It's certainly
innovative and the more people who think of solutions to our navigation
problems the better.
I can see that the turn by turn navigation variant he is developing would be
relatively straightforward to implement. However I cannot understand how a
sonar/ultrasonic technology will be able to discriminate between open drain
covers or steps, or even for that matter detect them in the first place. I
imagine The computation required would be quite intensive. I know from research
I did after leaving university that determining depth or distance within a
stereo image is very difficult to determine with accuracy and I just can't see
how it would be done with sound. It will be interesting to follow his progress
and see if anything becomes commercially available.
Cheers
Darren.
----- Original Message -----
From: Ibrahim Gucukoglu
To: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Wednesday, July 18, 2012 1:26 PM
Subject: [access-uk] Re: Now this is real inuvation! enjoy.
Hi Darren.
Well, whether it is Shoe or not, the economist article checks out and it
would make a change from the seemingly endless line of braille displays, mobile
phones and other been there done that stuff that’s coming out seemingly every
year. For someone to develop something that is of practical use not to mention
novel would be marvellous if he puts his soul in to the effort.
All the best, Ibrahim.
From: Darren Brewer
Sent: Wednesday, July 18, 2012 10:33 AM
To: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [access-uk] Re: Now this is real inuvation! enjoy.
Sounds too good to be shoe
Darren.
----- Original Message -----
From: Ibrahim Gucukoglu
To: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Wednesday, July 18, 2012 5:38 AM
Subject: [access-uk] Now this is real inuvation! enjoy.
Footwear for the Blind: Bluetooth shoes
The Economist http://www.economist.com/blogs/babbage/2012/07/footwear-blind
JUL 14 2012, 9:09 by A.A.K. ~ Mumbai
MORE than 285 million people across the globe suffer from visual impairment.
Yet the tools to assist the blind in walking have changed little since the
1920s, when their canes started being painted white to make other pedestrians
more aware of their presence. The gizmos that do exist have tended to be
expensive and clunky, and have not caught on. This may change if Anirudh
Sharma, a 24-year-old computer engineer from Hyderabad, a city in the Indian
state of Andhra Pradesh, has his way.
His innovation, dubbed "Le Chal" ("take me along" in Hindi) pairs a
smartphone app with a small actuator sewn inside the sole of one shoe via
Bluetooth. The user tells the phone his desired destination, which is
translated into electronic commands using voice-recognition software. The app,
which can be programmed to run in the background, fetches the local map of the
area. The phone's Global Positioning System (GPS) tracks the person's location
in real-time, telling the actuator to vibrate when it is time to turn. The side
of the shoe where the vibration is felt indicates which way to go. Mr Sharma
opted for a vibrating signal because for the blind, who rely on their sense of
hearing to make sense of the environment, audio feedback is a distraction.
The system does not require constant internet access. Once downloaded, maps
can be stored locally and combined with GPS data. The app uses Open Street Maps
(OSM), an open-source rival to Google Maps. OSM allows editing, a helpful
feature in updating rapidly changing urban landscapes. A speed-dial function
can rapidly retrieve the most frequently visited routes.
The shoe pod is also equipped with an obstacle-detection mechanism. A
sensor in the tip of the shoe, devised by Mr Sharma's business partner,
Krispian Lawrence, scans the vicinity using sonar, which emits ultrasounds that
bounce off obstacles, indicating their presence. The shoe sets off a distinct
pattern of vibrations to alert the person of any obstruction and guides him
around it.
For now, the footwear, being tested at the L.V. Prasad Eye Institute, one
of India's biggest eye-health facilities, may be most useful in areas with
little or no traffic, such as quiet residential streets or parks. The
challenge, Mr Lawrence says, is to get the algorithm to tell an uncovered
manhole from a flight of stairs, but he expects it to be able to do so in due
course. Dealing with moving obstacles like cars may take longer, though the
pair are working on ways to alert wearers not just about cars' presence, but
also their speed.
To ensure that the final product resembles a regular shoe, fashion
technologists are being consulted to help with ergonomics and design.
Mr Sharma and Mr Lawrence, who started a company called Ducere Technologies
to commercialise their idea, say their high-tech brogues should not cost more
than an ordinary, stylish pair. Many of the world's visually impaired will like
the sound of that.
____________________________________
Other related posts:
